This chapter was very vague to me. I could see the different ideas and approaches to teaching grammar and such, but what I didn't see were examples or strategies that teachers could really learn from and take into their classroom. The ones that were included weren't detailed enough to come to an understanding from.
For the Deductive teaching method, I think Chomsky is right in that "one does not learn the grammatical structure of a second language through 'explanation and instruction' beyond the most rudimentary elements, for the simple reason that no one has enough explicit knowledge about this structure to provide explanation and instruction" (183). I think that there are two things here that I noted about this method and Chomsky's arguement. First, although explanation and instruction are vital elements in teaching any concept, they are simply not enough in teaching grammar, especially when the audience is learning grammar in their second language. It is not fair to expect students to come to a full understanding about all the factors that affect grammar and the exceptions and such from only explanations and instructing them. They need far more than that. In my Teaching of Writing class, we have been learning how the most effective way to teach grammar and that is most conducive to students' learning grammar isn't through worksheets, specific lessons solely on grammar, but it is through example. A great example of this would be to use students' writing and explain what is done correctly or incorrectly grammar-wise and pull the teaching out of something else. Using students' own writing makes them more involved/engaged because it is their own, that they are trying to improve and for ESL students, it is also how they sound when conversing and not only how they sound when on paper. This is important to note because ESL students have factors that play into their learning because of the way they speak, such as being embarrassed, or being over-corrected so much that they don't want to volunteer again, or their accent. So, learning through their own writing is beneficial in that they are able to learn correct grammar for an academic paper, and they are also learning about how to use it conversationally (because native speakers tend to sound grammatically correct but don't know how to use correct grammar usage in a paper).
Second, Chomsky states that individuals don't have enough explicit knowledge to be instructing in certain ways about grammar, especially to ESL students. I think that this is a fair argument, especially since language is constantly changing. However, with this in mind, we as ESL teachers need to pick and choose the important grammar concepts that we will focus on for our students according to their grade, level of proficiency in English, whether it is for academic use or conversational use, etc. Narrowing down these factors will help us choose what to focus on, what our objective should be for our students to learn, and our approach. In the case of the two episodes shared in this chapter, the second was much more effective (on pages 179-181). The first focused on adverbial clauses and the teacher utilized a textbook and sentences where the students were to fill in the blank on their own, before the actual lesson. The second focused on complex sentences with cause and effect relationships. The teacher used a cartoon where the series of actions will cause a final result. She asked guiding questions and this activity was the opener to a more detailed, explanatory unit on grammar. This approach was inductive.
I think that both, inductive and deductive methods are missing a little bit of each other in creating an effective approach to teaching grammar. However, I also feel that since grammar has to do with ever-changing language, that approaches to teaching it will also be ever-changing.
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